


Of the genus Dolophones

by tara_stofse



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: Arachnophobia, Childhood Memories, Established Relationship, F/M, Flashbacks, Tree Climbing, i don't know what this is, spider - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:42:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28432614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tara_stofse/pseuds/tara_stofse
Summary: On a sunny day in Jack's garden, Phryne has a trip down memory lane.
Relationships: Phryne Fisher/Jack Robinson
Comments: 18
Kudos: 51





	Of the genus Dolophones

She took a sip of her lemonade and watched Jack with no small amount of appreciation.

He stepped off of the stepladder gracefully, and his face held a familiar half-smile as he ambled over to her, rubbing a sweaty curl from his forehead with the back of his hand. Whenever his hair came free like that, she always felt the urge to touch it, to run her fingers over his face before raking them through the locks on his head and messing it up even more.

He really was a fine specimen of a man.

“I hope you’ve left me some lemonade,” he said and plopped onto the wire chair opposite her.

“Of course, Jack,” she said, still ogling him from behind her sunglasses. She poured a glass and held it out to him, letting her voice drop an octave. “I knew you’d be thirsty.”

The corners of his mouth deepened. He placed the loppers on the table next to the lemonade jug and took the proffered glass with a soft ‘thank you’. They toasted each other quietly, a small custom between them that had stuck throughout their relationship. It always made Phryne feel slightly sentimental.

Jack eyed her over the top of his glass as they drank.

“You know, I have another pair if you’d like to make yourself useful.” He pointed at the loppers.

“Ah,” she said, “but I only see one stepladder. And I’m certainly not climbing that tree to help you prune it.”

“Why not, Miss Fisher?” His eyes were twinkling. “I can’t imagine someone of your talents would find it challenging.”

She wasn’t going to rise to his dare, no matter how playfully it was offered.

“I don’t climb trees, Jack,” she said, clipping his name.

“Why not?” Jack asked. Some genuine curiosity crept into his face. “You’re not afraid of heights, are you?”

Phryne rolled her eyes. Somewhere in the back of her head, a nine-year-old Phryne Fisher was taunting her.

_“Or are you too scared?”_

_Cousin Guy was looking at her with a bored expression. “I’m not scared, I just don’t see the appeal of it. But if you want to do it so terribly, go ahead.”_

_She always wanted to punch him in the face when he spoke down his nose like that, but her mother and Aunt Prudence were drinking tea not too far off, so she didn’t._

_“You’re a coward, Guy Stanley. You’re just scared because you know I’m going to beat you. I’m going to climb up there and tie my ribbon to the highest branch and you won’t even get close.”_

_Guy’s face twitched slightly. Out of the corner of her eye, Phryne saw the admiration in Janey’s face where she was sitting on the grass with Arthur. Emboldened, she swivelled around to face the tree. She ripped the ribbon out of her hair, clenched it between her teeth, and took hold of the lowest branch._

“Of course I’m not afraid of heights, Jack.” She gave him an unamused look. “You should know. You’ve seen me climb through windows much higher than your tree.”

He gave a small cough at that. Phryne smiled, satisfied with her deflection.

She should have known he wouldn’t be deterred that easily.

“A bad experience, then?” he asked, looking down on his glass casually. “Perhaps a fall?”

_The branch was just out of reach. She kept her hands on the tree’s trunk and glanced down._

_Three upturned faces stared at her. Janey and Arthur looked at her with breathless anticipation and even Guy was finding it hard to seem uninterested._

_She grinned, satisfied with her audience, and briefly took the ribbon out of her mouth. “Watch this,” she yelled before biting down on the ribbon again._

_She looked up, calculating the distance. Her muscles tensed and she jumped. Somewhere far below, Janey shrieked._

“A bad experience, yes, but not a fall,” she said. “Well, I did fall, but that wasn’t the bad part. It wasn’t even my fault. I was quite accomplished in the art of tree climbing, I’ll have you know.”

“Naturally,” said Jack, hiding his smile behind a sip of lemonade. “Who was to blame for your fall then, if I may ask?”

_Her hands grasped the branch firmly. She was still swinging wildly from the momentum of her jump and she let out an exhilarated whoop._

_It took her a moment to realise that her right hand was touching something strange and soft. She looked up. There was an oddly coloured patch of bark next to her hand._

_The patch transformed itself into a brown spider. She screamed and let go of the branch._

“A spider ran across my hand,” she said neutrally.

A laugh burst from Jack’s mouth and she glared at him.

“It’s not funny, Jack. It looked just like part of the branch. My fingers brushed against it before…” She shuddered, unable to help herself.

“A wrap-around spider,” he said, smiling. “I’ve seen some of those before. Clever little fellows.”

“Devious,” Phryne corrected him, glancing distrustfully at the heap of pruned leaves and branches nearby. “I broke my arm because of that damned spider.”

“You broke your arm?”

Jack was looking at her with that lovely curiosity in his eyes again. She softened.

“I did. I was really proud of my cast. Made me the most interesting kid in Collingwood for a short while.”

Jack tilted his head, acknowledging her gift of another small piece of her past. “Sounds like the spider made more of an impression on you than your broken arm did.”

She had to laugh at that. “After I fell, I didn’t notice the pain at first. I was too busy swatting at myself,” she admitted. “Then Janey started screaming and Aunt Prudence and my mother came running. Aunt Prudence phoned a doctor. She was awfully unimpressed with me.”

“I can imagine.” He smiled at her fondly before he finished his lemonade and got up. “So, will you be joining me? To face your fear?” His face was deceptively straight as he picked up the loppers. “Or are your tree-climbing days well and truly over?”

Phryne thought he looked entirely too smug. She decided that she’d had enough of his teasing for one day.

“My tree-climbing days are over, yes. But there are some other things –” she ran her eyes up and down his body, “– that I don’t mind climbing, Inspector.”

His reddening ears were highly satisfying.

**Author's Note:**

> Months ago, someone sent a picture of a wrap-around spider on Slack, and I wrote this but never posted it.  
> If you want to have a look at some fuzzy little spiders, [here](https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/blogs/creatura-blog/2018/07/wrap-around-spider/) you go XD
> 
> Also, a happy and healthy 2021 to everyone <3


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